Spring replacement

Sorry but first a rant.

My loader's hydraulic steering unit started acting odd in that if you just gave the steering wheel a little push it would slowly rotate until the wheels are fully turned. Push it back the other way and it would rotate back to fully turned the other way. Took it down to a hydraulics place who pulled it apart and found two little spring clips had broken. Curl your index finger and thumb til they almost touch and that's about the right size and shape. Two little &^)*@)#$ spring clips that if Eaton had properly heat treated the damned things would be working fine now.

Does Eaton sell the springs? NOooooooooo! I have to buy a $250 internals kit that will take 6 to 8 weeks to ship.

Set rant off.

If I have to I can just reassemble the unit and use it the way it is now but does anyone know of a place that can custom make two small spring clips?

Thanks. Steve.

Reply to
SteveF
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Those sound like standard circlips. Take some measurements and check out McMaster Carr.

--RC

Reply to
Rick Cook

properly heat

Steve, If possible, post a picture of the fractured springs. Otherwise, the keywords to search on at McMaster (per previous poster's excellent suggestion) would probably be: Circlip, E Clip, and Retaining Ring.

Do these springs operate in tension ("outside" clip) or compression ("inside" clip)?

Can you post reasonably exact inside and outside diameters?

Last, are there tiny holes at both ends of the spring clips?

Take care, Dave

Reply to
LowEnergyParticle

Post a photo or a little more info - ID, OD, cross section. Someone may recognize the parts and have another source or have suggestions on how to make them. Are they by any chance the retaining rings formed out of heavy square wire?

Ned Simmons

Reply to
Ned Simmons

I can post a picture and some dimensions this weekend after I pick up the unit and the pieces on Friday. The clips are made of heavy square wire. Force is applied by a shaft to try to spread the legs apart. They aren't standard retaining clips but I checked McMaster this morning and no luck. If I had a way to heat treat them properly I would order some spring stock and make them. Might be a good chance to try out emachineshop.com.

Steve.

Reply to
SteveF

Like this?

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Prospect Fastener has supplied me with oddball rings in small quantities in the past. IIRC they have a minimum order (perhaps $50?), but you can probably get 5-10 rings for your money.

BTW, my print catalog has a sticker on the front that says "Exclusive Factory Authorized Master Distributor for Eaton Retaining Rings." I bet Eaton didn't mention that .

Ned Simmons

Reply to
Ned Simmons

You might want to try TruArc also look on Google for snap rings and retaining rings.

Cheers,

Kelley

Reply to
Kelley Mascher

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